1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,599 Speaker 1: Hey y'all, Eve's here. We're doubling up today with two 2 00:00:02,640 --> 00:00:05,360 Speaker 1: events in history, one from me and one from former 3 00:00:05,400 --> 00:00:09,760 Speaker 1: host Tracy V. Wilson. One with the show Welcome to 4 00:00:09,760 --> 00:00:12,280 Speaker 1: this day in History Class from how Stuff Works dot 5 00:00:12,320 --> 00:00:14,280 Speaker 1: Com and from the desk of Stuff You Missed in 6 00:00:14,360 --> 00:00:16,840 Speaker 1: History Class. It's the show where we explore the past 7 00:00:16,960 --> 00:00:19,040 Speaker 1: one day at a time with a quick look at 8 00:00:19,079 --> 00:00:26,320 Speaker 1: what happened today in history. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 9 00:00:26,440 --> 00:00:29,960 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy V. Wilson and it's November twenty four. On 10 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:32,800 Speaker 1: this day in nine, a man known as D. B. 11 00:00:32,960 --> 00:00:36,840 Speaker 1: Cooper parachuted out of a hijacked plane with a bag 12 00:00:36,880 --> 00:00:40,239 Speaker 1: of ransom money and was never seen again. So on 13 00:00:40,360 --> 00:00:44,040 Speaker 1: that day, this man had gone to the airport in Portland, Oregon, 14 00:00:44,120 --> 00:00:46,400 Speaker 1: and he bought a ticket to fly to Seattle on 15 00:00:46,520 --> 00:00:50,080 Speaker 1: Northwest Orient Airlines flight three oh five. He gave his 16 00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:54,040 Speaker 1: name as Dan Cooper. It's not totally clear how that 17 00:00:54,120 --> 00:00:57,840 Speaker 1: morphed into dB Cooper when he originally used the alias Dan, 18 00:00:58,120 --> 00:01:02,279 Speaker 1: but he's definitely more now as dB Cooper today. He 19 00:01:02,440 --> 00:01:05,440 Speaker 1: was described as looking like a typical traveler, dressed in 20 00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:07,720 Speaker 1: a business suit, six ft tall and a hundred and 21 00:01:07,760 --> 00:01:11,320 Speaker 1: seventy five pounds and in his mid forties. This wasn't 22 00:01:11,480 --> 00:01:14,120 Speaker 1: a full flight. There were only thirty six passengers on 23 00:01:14,160 --> 00:01:17,280 Speaker 1: a Boeing seven seven that had a capacity of nine four. 24 00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:21,759 Speaker 1: Shortly after the plane took off, he handed flight attendant 25 00:01:21,800 --> 00:01:26,120 Speaker 1: Florence Schaffner a note. She assumed that he was trying 26 00:01:26,160 --> 00:01:28,720 Speaker 1: to give her his phone number or something that had 27 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:31,959 Speaker 1: happened before with other passengers, so she just tried to 28 00:01:31,959 --> 00:01:35,320 Speaker 1: ignore it, but he said, miss you'd better look at 29 00:01:35,360 --> 00:01:38,800 Speaker 1: that note in all caps. The note said I have 30 00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:41,200 Speaker 1: a bomb in my briefcase. I want you to sit 31 00:01:41,240 --> 00:01:45,560 Speaker 1: beside me, so she did. He showed her this briefcase 32 00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:48,120 Speaker 1: and she could see six red sticks and a battery 33 00:01:48,200 --> 00:01:51,920 Speaker 1: and some wires, and then he dictated his terms to her. 34 00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:56,480 Speaker 1: He wanted two hundred thousand dollars and used twenty dollar bills. 35 00:01:56,960 --> 00:01:59,400 Speaker 1: He also wanted two parachutes, one for the front, one 36 00:01:59,440 --> 00:02:02,520 Speaker 1: for the back, and two backup shoots. And he wanted 37 00:02:02,520 --> 00:02:05,200 Speaker 1: a fuel truck to be ready to refuel the plane 38 00:02:05,240 --> 00:02:08,440 Speaker 1: after it landed. He told her no funny stuff, or 39 00:02:08,480 --> 00:02:11,920 Speaker 1: I'll do the job. So the plane had to circle 40 00:02:12,040 --> 00:02:14,680 Speaker 1: for a while while these demands could be met, and 41 00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:17,600 Speaker 1: then it did land. Cooper let all the passengers go 42 00:02:17,840 --> 00:02:20,960 Speaker 1: along with Shaffner, and they took off again at seven 43 00:02:21,080 --> 00:02:25,080 Speaker 1: forty six pm. He told the pilot he wanted to 44 00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:28,279 Speaker 1: go to Mexico, but he had some pretty specific conditions 45 00:02:28,320 --> 00:02:30,880 Speaker 1: for how he wanted them to get there. He wanted 46 00:02:30,880 --> 00:02:33,200 Speaker 1: the plane to stay below ten thousand feet and to 47 00:02:33,240 --> 00:02:35,560 Speaker 1: go no faster than a hundred and fifty miles an hour. 48 00:02:36,480 --> 00:02:38,839 Speaker 1: The pilot let him know that they could only do 49 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:41,880 Speaker 1: that if they stopped and refueled and Reno, and he 50 00:02:41,960 --> 00:02:45,919 Speaker 1: agreed to that, and then Cooper ordered the one remaining 51 00:02:45,919 --> 00:02:48,360 Speaker 1: flight attendant who had not been allowed to leave, to 52 00:02:48,400 --> 00:02:51,280 Speaker 1: go into the cockpit, which left him alone in the cabin. 53 00:02:52,800 --> 00:02:56,280 Speaker 1: At about eight pm, the crew noticed a slight shift 54 00:02:56,360 --> 00:02:59,080 Speaker 1: in their altitude, and then when they landed in Reno, 55 00:02:59,440 --> 00:03:02,919 Speaker 1: Cooper was gone. Based on when they had noticed that dip, 56 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:05,680 Speaker 1: they estimated that he had parachuted out of the plane 57 00:03:06,040 --> 00:03:10,240 Speaker 1: near the Lewis River north of Portland, Oregon. That area 58 00:03:10,400 --> 00:03:13,520 Speaker 1: was calmbed thoroughly, but no sign of him was ever found. 59 00:03:14,280 --> 00:03:17,760 Speaker 1: The FBI opened an investigation code named nor Jack, and 60 00:03:17,760 --> 00:03:21,920 Speaker 1: on July they announced they were redirecting the funds to 61 00:03:22,160 --> 00:03:26,119 Speaker 1: other investigations, and that this was no longer an active 62 00:03:26,200 --> 00:03:29,960 Speaker 1: open case. They called it quote, one of the longest 63 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:34,280 Speaker 1: and most exhaustive investigations in our history. But then in 64 00:03:34,360 --> 00:03:38,560 Speaker 1: June of a team of investigators, some of them former FBI, 65 00:03:38,840 --> 00:03:41,840 Speaker 1: said they had identified D. B. Cooper as a man 66 00:03:41,960 --> 00:03:45,800 Speaker 1: named Robert reck Straw that was based on the text 67 00:03:45,880 --> 00:03:50,080 Speaker 1: of a purportedly coded letter. Although the FBI had cleared 68 00:03:50,080 --> 00:03:54,320 Speaker 1: reck Straw back in nineteen two, he had also previously 69 00:03:54,360 --> 00:03:57,480 Speaker 1: been the subject of an entire TV special, although he 70 00:03:57,560 --> 00:04:04,280 Speaker 1: has denied any involvement. Strangely, the dB Cooper hijacking inspired 71 00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:09,000 Speaker 1: multiple other copycat hijackers. The seventies were a time when 72 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:12,360 Speaker 1: it was a lot easier to get onto an airplane 73 00:04:12,440 --> 00:04:16,000 Speaker 1: with weapons. There was virtually no screening in US airports, 74 00:04:16,480 --> 00:04:19,760 Speaker 1: and airlines also had policies that in cases of hijacking, 75 00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:23,440 Speaker 1: the crew were basically to do whatever the hijacker asked. 76 00:04:23,560 --> 00:04:27,520 Speaker 1: So other people also hijacked planes to try to get 77 00:04:27,560 --> 00:04:31,320 Speaker 1: money and then parachute away. You can learn more about 78 00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:34,440 Speaker 1: this on the October three episode of Stuff You Miss 79 00:04:34,440 --> 00:04:37,760 Speaker 1: in History Class called Who Is dB Cooper? That predates 80 00:04:37,800 --> 00:04:40,080 Speaker 1: the closing of the case and the renewed focus on 81 00:04:40,279 --> 00:04:43,200 Speaker 1: Robert re Straw. Thanks to k C. P. Graham and 82 00:04:43,279 --> 00:04:45,720 Speaker 1: Chandler Mayze for their audio work on this show. And 83 00:04:45,800 --> 00:04:47,760 Speaker 1: you can subscribe to the Stay in History Class on 84 00:04:47,800 --> 00:04:51,240 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and whoever else you get your podcasts, 85 00:04:51,240 --> 00:04:53,680 Speaker 1: and you can tune in tomorrow for the assassination of 86 00:04:53,760 --> 00:05:05,640 Speaker 1: three sisters. Hey everyone, welcome to the podcast. I'm Eves 87 00:05:05,760 --> 00:05:08,320 Speaker 1: and you're listening to This Day in History Class, a 88 00:05:08,400 --> 00:05:11,039 Speaker 1: podcast that really takes to heart the phrase you learn 89 00:05:11,160 --> 00:05:22,760 Speaker 1: something new every day. The day was November nineteen fourteen. 90 00:05:23,920 --> 00:05:27,719 Speaker 1: Bessie Blunt was born in Hickory, Virginia. Blunt was a 91 00:05:27,760 --> 00:05:32,080 Speaker 1: physical therapist and inventor who created tools and devices to 92 00:05:32,200 --> 00:05:37,040 Speaker 1: help people with physical disabilities. Bessie's parents were George Woodard 93 00:05:37,120 --> 00:05:41,480 Speaker 1: and Mary Elizabeth Griffin. She went to Digg's Chapel Elementary School, 94 00:05:41,560 --> 00:05:43,919 Speaker 1: a school that was built after the Civil War for 95 00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:48,440 Speaker 1: the children of formerly enslaved people and Native Americans. She 96 00:05:48,520 --> 00:05:51,320 Speaker 1: said that at the school, black kids learned how to 97 00:05:51,400 --> 00:05:54,960 Speaker 1: read by reading verses out of the Bible. She was 98 00:05:55,040 --> 00:05:57,600 Speaker 1: left handed, but one of her teachers would beat her 99 00:05:57,640 --> 00:06:00,400 Speaker 1: on her knuckles for writing with her left hand. She 100 00:06:00,560 --> 00:06:03,160 Speaker 1: figured that quote, if it was wrong to right with 101 00:06:03,200 --> 00:06:05,240 Speaker 1: my left hand, then it was wrong to right with 102 00:06:05,360 --> 00:06:08,320 Speaker 1: my right hand. So she taught herself to write with 103 00:06:08,360 --> 00:06:12,640 Speaker 1: her teeth and feet. Her family moved to New Jersey, 104 00:06:12,680 --> 00:06:16,680 Speaker 1: where Bessie studied nursing at Kenny Memorial Hospital and attendant 105 00:06:16,680 --> 00:06:21,600 Speaker 1: Panzer College of Physical Education. After she graduated from Panzer, 106 00:06:21,960 --> 00:06:25,800 Speaker 1: she studied physical therapy at Union Junior College. Once she 107 00:06:25,839 --> 00:06:29,719 Speaker 1: became a practicing physical therapist, she worked at veterans hospitals 108 00:06:29,760 --> 00:06:32,719 Speaker 1: where she taught soldiers who lost limbs or didn't have 109 00:06:32,839 --> 00:06:36,760 Speaker 1: use of their limbs new ways to perform tasks. She 110 00:06:36,839 --> 00:06:39,080 Speaker 1: taught them how to write with their teeth and feet, 111 00:06:39,400 --> 00:06:41,919 Speaker 1: and she designed inventions that would help the veterans with 112 00:06:42,040 --> 00:06:45,920 Speaker 1: task that could not be compensated for with physical therapy. 113 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:49,400 Speaker 1: One of those inventions was a device that helped people 114 00:06:49,640 --> 00:06:51,880 Speaker 1: who were unable to use their limbs to reach their 115 00:06:51,880 --> 00:06:55,520 Speaker 1: mouth eat on their own. She spent ten months developing 116 00:06:55,560 --> 00:06:58,599 Speaker 1: her first design of this device, and after about four 117 00:06:58,680 --> 00:07:01,960 Speaker 1: years of further development, she created a working model made 118 00:07:01,960 --> 00:07:05,359 Speaker 1: of stainless steel. One bite of food at a time 119 00:07:05,520 --> 00:07:08,400 Speaker 1: was delivered through a tube. A patient would then bite 120 00:07:08,440 --> 00:07:11,440 Speaker 1: down on the tube, which activated a motor and dispensed 121 00:07:11,520 --> 00:07:15,520 Speaker 1: that bite of food through the mouthpiece. The device shut 122 00:07:15,560 --> 00:07:18,000 Speaker 1: down between bites so the patient would have time to 123 00:07:18,120 --> 00:07:21,840 Speaker 1: chew the food. The chief medical director of the Veterans 124 00:07:21,880 --> 00:07:25,880 Speaker 1: Administration told her the feeding device was impractical and that 125 00:07:26,040 --> 00:07:30,440 Speaker 1: hand feeding was preferred. Medical supply companies were not buying 126 00:07:30,480 --> 00:07:33,480 Speaker 1: into her device, so she donated the patent rights to 127 00:07:33,520 --> 00:07:37,160 Speaker 1: the French government in nineteen fifty one. The French government 128 00:07:37,200 --> 00:07:41,160 Speaker 1: was interested in using the device in military hospitals, but 129 00:07:41,240 --> 00:07:44,400 Speaker 1: it also designed another feeding device, which was made up 130 00:07:44,440 --> 00:07:46,920 Speaker 1: of a tube attached to a dish that was connected 131 00:07:46,960 --> 00:07:49,160 Speaker 1: to a brace that a person wore around their neck. 132 00:07:50,200 --> 00:07:53,040 Speaker 1: In nineteen fifty three, she appeared on a television show 133 00:07:53,080 --> 00:07:57,520 Speaker 1: about inventions called The Big Idea. She went on to 134 00:07:57,560 --> 00:07:59,560 Speaker 1: work as a caretaker for the mother in law of 135 00:07:59,600 --> 00:08:04,200 Speaker 1: Theodore Edison, son of inventor Thomas Edison, and she designed 136 00:08:04,240 --> 00:08:07,560 Speaker 1: more inventions, like a kidney shaped vomit basin made out 137 00:08:07,560 --> 00:08:11,280 Speaker 1: of paper machee. The invention wasn't picked up in the US, 138 00:08:11,480 --> 00:08:13,760 Speaker 1: but the Belgian government took interest in it, and the 139 00:08:13,760 --> 00:08:18,000 Speaker 1: basins are still used in Belgian hospitals today. In nineteen 140 00:08:18,040 --> 00:08:22,040 Speaker 1: sixty nine, Blunt switched career paths, turning to forensic science. 141 00:08:22,440 --> 00:08:25,160 Speaker 1: She became a handwriting analyst and published a paper on 142 00:08:25,280 --> 00:08:30,120 Speaker 1: medical graphology, or the study of handwriting. She detected forged 143 00:08:30,200 --> 00:08:33,559 Speaker 1: documents for the Violent Police Department in New Jersey and 144 00:08:33,640 --> 00:08:37,439 Speaker 1: for police departments in Virginia. She applied to work in 145 00:08:37,480 --> 00:08:40,520 Speaker 1: the FBI and was turned down, but in nineteen seventy 146 00:08:40,559 --> 00:08:43,400 Speaker 1: seven she took an advanced studies course in the document 147 00:08:43,440 --> 00:08:47,280 Speaker 1: division at Scotland Yard. She's believed to be the first 148 00:08:47,320 --> 00:08:50,559 Speaker 1: black American woman to train and work at Scotland Yard. 149 00:08:51,559 --> 00:08:54,880 Speaker 1: In her later years, Blunt continued to do freelance forensic work, 150 00:08:55,280 --> 00:08:59,400 Speaker 1: and she authenticated documents for museums. She also worked as 151 00:08:59,400 --> 00:09:03,719 Speaker 1: a consultant in law enforcement investigations. Blunt died in New 152 00:09:03,800 --> 00:09:07,480 Speaker 1: Jersey in December of two thou nine. I'm each step 153 00:09:07,600 --> 00:09:09,840 Speaker 1: Coote and hopefully you know a little more about history 154 00:09:09,880 --> 00:09:13,319 Speaker 1: today than you did it yesterday. Keep up with us 155 00:09:13,400 --> 00:09:17,679 Speaker 1: on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, at t D I h 156 00:09:17,840 --> 00:09:21,040 Speaker 1: C podcast, or if you want to get a little 157 00:09:21,080 --> 00:09:23,720 Speaker 1: more fancy, you can send us an email at this 158 00:09:23,840 --> 00:09:28,720 Speaker 1: Day at I Heart media dot com. Thanks for listening. 159 00:09:28,880 --> 00:09:38,359 Speaker 1: We'll see you again tomorrow with another episode.